


Don't get me wrong I think you're pretty but I don't want in your pants

by Internetmeep



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Asexual Character, Best Friends, Denial of Feelings, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Light Angst, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-17 12:18:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18965101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Internetmeep/pseuds/Internetmeep
Summary: WillNE and Stephen Tries are so close friends that everyone just assumes they're dating, so one day they decide to just fake it- gotta get them views and what better way than some good old fashioned queerbaitingBut everything goes just a little too far and they end up not only lying to their viewers but also their friends and family





	1. Getting together

It's hard to tell when everything started getting out of hand. A hug here and there and sometimes casually sitting a little closer than maybe what is socially acceptable somehow became a lie so far fetched it seemed impossible that nobody was prepared to accept the truth.

Stephen and Will were friends, best friends maybe, but they weren't lovers. Yes, maybe they love each other, but not in that way at all. However, if the viewers don't believe them when they say that, it isn't their problem. People are always misreading situations, it doesn't have to mean anything.  
Unless of course this could be used as a gift, and it really isn't worth looking a gift horse in the mouth. What is it that people on the internet love most? A good old fashioned queer-bait, with a touch of detective work.

It wasn't their fault. They couldn't stop the fans from reading into things they shouldn't, and the more someone tries to reject the rumours, the more people believe them to be true. It didn't take long for either of the boys to realise how to exploit their "relationship" for views, and with the current CPM rate, both YouTubers were desperate to try to get on the trending page.

They were filming another Reddit video for the S2W channel when Stephen finally decided to bring up the idea that had been rattling around in both their brains for a while.

"Hey man, I've got a new video idea, well actually it's more like a scheme to get more views..." he began.  
"I love views me." Will interrupted  
"I'm serious mate. We should start seeing each other, ya know like pretend we are boyfriends. Everyone already ships us" Stephen continued  
"Slight problem with that though Stephen, We're not gay!" the one with the square head interrupted for the second time.  
"Yeah but we could be though, you ever thought about that? The viewers don't need to know anything. Anyway, people love The Gays, look at Alex he's killing it."

Stephen did have a point. Alex generally has always had a better following than either of them and some of the biggest ships break the internet every time one of them so much as looks at the other. This would work. They just had to figure out how to put their plan into action.

They spent the rest of the night discussing their plan to figure out how exactly this was going to work - how they were going to convince millions of people that two platonic straight friends were madly in love.

Step One was to start slow. Some prolonged eye contact here and there from both parties. A quick mention of the other in Collab's with their friends, wrapping their legs together in the Weakest Link video. It wasn't exactly past what people would consider to be socially acceptable between friends but the frequency was just enough to turn a few heads and gain a couple of fanfictions written about them.

Step two was to make the rest of the fans believe them, starting with the fivver song written for them and then, of course, them spooning at the start of the True Geordie Christmas podcast nothing too intense just yet - it was only supposed to be a suspicion.

Step three happened by accident, a text from ImAllexx to Will asking what was going on. A by-product of steps 1 and 2, and something that made both guys question whether this might have been a good point to stop. But as both of them have a large number of subscribers they dreaded to think what would happen to their careers if their lies were revealed.

So, with that in mind, it was time to move on to step 4. Revealing it officially to the public.

The video was uploaded to the WillNE channel, with it being the most subscribed to it seemed the best choice. To maintain the views, it was entitled MEET MY GIRLFRIEND (Boyfriend tag, not clickbait), but with some LGBTQ+ tags included to be involved in searches. In the thumbnail, he leant in towards Stephen in a way that he could manipulate during editing and he also planned to blur Stephen's face to add to the clickbait.

It didn't take long for the number of views to begin rising and eventually, everything became "real".

And so, they started to take things a little bit further. Will started a live stream. It wasn't accidental this time but he planned to let it go on for a little longer than expected.

"Right hi lads. Today's not going to be too intense or anything but I'm ready to A your Qs if you wanna send me something" he began.

He decided to ignore the questions regarding his relationship to Stephen just yet. Not wanting to give the game away just yet but with every question that passed he was getting increasingly nervous about the events that were about to proceed. 

"Last question. How bigs your Yankee candle?" 

"Well between you and me it's pretty large ;) you and you're mates could... never mind. Okay so that's it for today's live stream but there's more fun to be had on my channel"

He stared into the camera for a while, whilst fumbling around with the mouse trying to make it look like he wanted to turn off the stream.

That's when, as according to plan, Stephen walked in. 

"Okay how the fuck do you say ;) out loud" he looked over at his 'boyfriend' with some form of adoration in his eyes. It wouldn't be too hard to fake it considering what they already had, he thought.

"Idk babe you tell me" Will replied. They carried a little bit of an awkward silence for the viewers' sake before Will looked up at him and gestured for Stephen to sit on his lap, which he did.

Both boys were incredibly nervous. I mean they have never done this before so doing it now for a live stream no less was terrifying. One wrong move and their cover was blown.

With Stephen being slightly smaller than Will they were now facing each other. They both leaned in, having discussed what was going to happen already and pressed their lips together.

Despite it being their first kiss, there wasn't any awkwardness in it and there wasn't any sort of sense that they were kissing their best mate. 

Stephen leaned in again, however with a little bit more force than previously, deciding that they would need to make out in order to sell it, however at this point neither wanted to stop.

However it got to a point where neither could breathe and the camera was still rolling, still very much in the front of both of their minds. Stephen glanced towards the computer and then looked again.

"Babe, you've left your live stream on," he said, with a hint of awkward nervousness in his voice. 

"Shit" Will replied before leaning into the mouse and fumbling to end the stream. 

But with a quick glance at the comments, it was clear that they had succeeded, it was mostly filled with screamings and all-caps messages and a lot of people recording the moment for later. But they got their message across and now all they had to do was keep it up and keep the fans coming.


	2. Alex's master plan

It seemed like a normal day. Will was around ImAllexx and Memeulous' place, filming a video with them when Alex decided on an idea that to Will seemed preposterous. A double date with Alex and James. Even if Will actually was dating someone, he still wouldn't have been thrilled with the idea. But to have to "one up" an actual couple when his boy friend was exactly that - a friend, seemed like an impossible task. Nevertheless he called Stephen up. Conscious of the fact that Alex would be listening to everything he said.

"Hey babe" he began.  
"Wait, what do you mean babe?" Stephen asked seeming to forget the "relationship" he had started with his best friend as a complicated scheme to increase their subscribers. Straight away Will regretted his usual subconscious decision to put the phone on speaker.  
"I'm at Alex's he was wondering if we wanted to go out on a date with him and James Friday night"  
"I was hoping to stay in with you..." Stephen replied, voice turning a lot softer, realising what was going on and drastically trying to save their façade.  
"I know baby, but maybe it will be fun to spend some time with our friends"  
"Okay then, I've got to get back to work, I'm in the middle of filming, but I'll see you then. Love you" Stephen replied finding an excuse to end the phone call  
"Love you too, bye" Will replied hanging up the phone.

"You seem quite cute together" Alex began, "but why was he so confused that you called him babe?" Alex asked, not wanting to question their relationship but feeling as if maybe there was something else going on. Especially since he only knew about their relationship because of the way they acted online and also because he thought that both Stephen and Will were straight until this started. He couldn't deny how different Stephen seemed to act when talking to Will during that conversation, something that clearly seemed to imply a relationship, but to not expect to be called babe? Surely something was up.

Will panicked. He couldn't believe Stephen would accidentally nearly cost them this whole scheme. But for Alex to think they were cute? Where did that come from? It was literally one conversation between them and without the slip up, it would have convinced Alex that they were truly together? That didn't seem right.

"Erm, well you know we haven't been dating that long. We tend not to use pet names unless we want something or we ya know are trying to comfort each other or something. He knew that I wanted something." Will replied, proud of his answer. Hoping Alex would be wiling to drop it from that. To his luck, the question wasn't pressed any further, and they continued with the video.

It got to Friday and Will was at Stephens preparing for their date which started in T minus 2 hours. That wasn't nearly enough time for either of them to mentally prepare themselves - not only for the date which was about to happen but also just the fact that neither of them had been out to a restaurant for a very long time and did not want to have to eat around so many people. Will was trying to calm Stephen down before Alex arrived. Both knowing his anxiety was worse than Will's, being the reason he sounded so reluctant to go out when they made the plans in the first place.

"What happens if I can't get out?" Stephen asked, his anxiety rising.  
"Then I will help you, okay? You're my date. I would be a terrible person if I let you have a panic attack by yourself in a restaurant. If you need us to leave I'll apologise to Alex and we'll go."

Will pulled Stephen against him from where they were sitting so that he was curled up against him. This was when Alex and James turned up.

"Get a room will ya?" Alex called as he walked into the apartment - apparently Will left the door open when he came in. That could have gone very badly if it wasn't their friends that were the first people to notice.  
"This is my room thanks" Stephen retorted back, feeling better now that he had some time to calm down.

They left not long after that as it is a mistake to be late to a restaurant in London - your table would get swept up in a heartbeat and given to someone else. Walking though the streets of London, Stephen was shivering. Obviously he had expected it to be cold, he lives in England, but this is the south, an oven compared to Manchester. He might as well be handing himself pussy status if anyone notices.

"Are you cold Ste?" Will asks, apparently noticing. Which was strange as Stephen was being as subtle about it as possible. Will asking meant he was paying more attention to him than what is normal for friends. But that's just it. They weren't friends. At least not tonight, by tomorrow they would probably be back to the way they were and yeah they were still going to be together but unless there are people around or fans watching there isn't a need to pretend anything that isn't actually there. Or at least that's what they thought.  
"I'm not cold. I don't want your jacket before you ask." Stephen responding, knowing the most likely place for Will to take the conversation considering they were a couple.  
"I get it, your outfit looks cute as it is." Will pointed out, without saying anything further he took his jacket off and wrapped in around his boyfriends shoulders, leaving his arm there to keep it in place. Luckily they had already walked though the worst areas between their flat and the restaurant so they didn't need to worry about getting shanked when they did that. And strangely, the gesture felt entirely natural.

Eventually they got to the restaurant and went inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this first chapter is a bit of a mess but I am a little bit high on pain meds right now and have been borderline unconscious for the last hour or so of writing, which is also why it's fairly short. More to come hopefully though.


End file.
